A young homeless woman who stole food and turned to prostitution to earn a living has been placed on probation for three years after showing significant progress during a drug rehabilitation programme.

The 22-year-old, who is not being named to protect her identity, had stolen food from James Caterers in Fgura in November and December last year and was arraigned over the theft.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera heard how her parents had separated and did not want her in their homes, forcing her out on to the streets where she found a 40-year-old man to live with.

She picked up a drug addiction and resorted to prostitution to get by. Her probation officer, Svetlana Bezzina, said that she was tracking the woman’s progress and had seen her three times in Mount Carmel Hospital.

The woman had also spent time in a residential home run by Caritas, where she expressed the wish to kick her drug habit once and for all, Ms Bezzina said.

The woman has since, through a residential drug rehabilitation programme, managed to rid herself of her drug problem.

The magistrate said that once she had shown the motivation and serious intention to kick the habit, she should be given a window of opportunity to make a real change.